Space FPS game Boundary recently opened another test at the Steam Next Fest, and according to the release date shown on the store page, this will likely be Boundary's last beta test.
The expected release date was March
The Boundary project was established seven years ago and quickly joined the Sony China Hero Project in 2017. However, because of problems with the development company's workflow and interpersonal relationships, a large number of core developers left, causing the game's development cycle to be extended indefinitely.
An article by a former employee on social media complaining about the company's development problems, titled "The end of a dream"
Although Studio Surgical Scalpels responded to the article and said it would set the record straight by making a game of excellent quality. However, over the past two years since the article, Boundary has completely stopped updating with regular development progress and has only opened a few very low-key tests for overseas players.
After two years of silence, how’s the quality of Boundary right now, and is it enough to redeem the setbacks?
Innovative Gameplay
As an FPS game that allows for three-axis movement, Boundary now has a very decent movement system. Players can move freely in and out of the huge space facility and find the right position to fight from. Although this is not friendly to players who have 3D motion sickness, the game almost perfectly simulates the feeling of making complex movements in zero-gravity space.
In fact, shooter games that allow players to float in the air are not uncommon, but Boundary has expanded this system's depth. In the game, the Q and E keys control the left or right propulsion and rotation, respectively, allowing players to ascend or descend with 360°degree rotation. The movement system is not easy to master at the beginning and does not appear to be very useful. But once the player has thoroughly understood the game’s "directionless", they will find that tight control of the jetpack to steer or evade can bring a tremendous tactical advantage to combat. Boundary is pioneering the FPS genre in creating realistic and hardcore space combat.
The way we use directions on Earth is sorely lacking in space.
Rough Details
Opposite Boundary's innovative movement system and interesting gameplay is the game’s terrible detail and balance. The exclusive shotgun for the playable character Spike has unparalleled power, accuracy and range, even after the emergency adjustment on the second day of testing.
Sadly, guns are not the only thing that needs to be adjusted, the game's UI is very confusing, making it hard to tell what are buttons and what are pictures, and the page for customizing weapons is so blurry that you can barely see your own builds.
The game's matchmaking system is equally disappointing. During the ten hours of testing, the server crashed nine times, kicking everybody off.
Boundary's innovative theme and excellent movement system set a high ceiling for it, yet many of the game's most basic details exist in a very unpolished state, hardly reaching what amounts to a passing grade for an FPS. On the fourth day of beta testing, some players noticed that Boundary's estimated release date was moved to 2023 instead of March 2023, so perhaps Studio Surgical Scalpels isn't confident about launching their masterpiece at this level of quality. But I think a few more months is nothing for those players who have waited for six years.